Our Staff and Officers

Rabbi Doctor Douglas Goldhamer

Rabbi Doctor Douglas Goldhamer was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1972, and, together with Chicago deaf leaders, he established Congregation Bene Shalom/Hebrew Association of the Deaf in 1972. He received his Ph.D. from University of Chicago and his Doctor of Divinity degree from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. For the past 33 years, he has been the only full-time rabbi serving a deaf Jewish community in the United States. He is also the only rabbi to serve as Associate Professor of Philosophy at Gallaudet University In 1992, Rabbi Doctor Goldhamer founded the Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf, where he currently serves as President and Professor of Jewish Mysticism. Together with Melinda Stengel, a licensed social worker, Goldhamer wrote This is for Everyone: Universal Principles of Healing Prayer and the Jewish Mystics, published by Larson Publications, in 1999. He is currently working on a new book, entitled The Healing Chapel. Rabbi Doctor Goldhamer has lectured on the efficacy of Healing Prayer and Meditation across the country, including Gallaudet University, Harvard Medical School, Unity Church, Infinity Foundation and Bryn Mawr College.

Rabbi Shari Chen

Rabbi Chen is Congregation Bene Shalom's Assistant Rabbi. She was ordained at the Hebrew Seminary for the Deaf in 2005. Rabbi Chen has served as the Director of the Esther Knapp Religious School at Bene Shalom for over 12 years. She has taught and served as a school board member at Congregation Bnai Emunah and participated in interfaith services at Sedgebrook Communities. Rabbi Chen has lectured at the Bernard Horwich JCC and led worshops at the Chicago Association for Young Children's Education. She has also lectured and is an Inclusion Training Specialist with National Louis University's Leadership Training Program. Rabbi Chen teaches our Bnai Mitzvah students and adult Hebrew classes.

Charlene Brooks has served as the Cantorial Soloist of Bene Shalom for the past eleven years. In addition to leading the congregation in the traditional liturgy, she has enhanced our services with her own original songs. She has created an original musical Purim Program each year that is enjoyed by young and old alike.
Ms. Brooks also teaches Jewish songs in the Esther Knapp Religious School and leads the Children’s Signing Choir. This is a group of youngsters who learn to sing and sign liturgy as well as other related music. They participate in the High Holiday services as well as many other services during the year.
She is proud to have led Passover Services at the Evanston Council for Jewish Elderly for many years. Ms. Brooks studied voice with renowned teachers such as Ed Farran, Gillian Kelly and Peggy Skarry, and she is well known in the Chicago and Midwest area for her theatrical and cabaret performances. She also sings professionally with major Chicago area orchestras at corporate events.